Lawn mowing frequency affects bee abundance and diversity (2018) • Hacker News Board

Re: Lawn mowing frequency affects bee abundance and diversity (2018)

#81

Post by smileysteve » Sun, Mar 13, 2022, 5:32 PM UTC

ironmagma wrote: post #43

popol12 wrote: post #28

Lawn mowing is among the top most useless energy wasting human activities. It's noisy (of course nobody syncs with neighbours to mow so you can be sure to hear mowing noise every day), polluting, and so fucking useless.

Not noisy or polluting if you use an electric mower. Useless, kind of, although I appreciate not having a literal million insects floating into my house when I open the door (I live in FL) so it keeps those populations in check. Most of the macro bugs know the mower is coming and hop out of the way.

> it keeps those populations in check

This is an interesting word choice to use as pollinators approach endangerment.

Akin to suggesting that deer hunting season should be extended until there are no longer any deer near roadways in FL.

Re: Lawn mowing frequency affects bee abundance and diversity (2018)

#82

Post by candiddevmike » Sun, Mar 13, 2022, 5:33 PM UTC

odonnellryan wrote: post #70

candiddevmike wrote: post #24

Also stop using herbicide and plant some clover. My neighbors hate me but I (and the bees, bunnies, and other critters) love my almost white lawn in July. It smells great, and the clover keeps the grass healthy.

What clover? Would love to do this even though clover is really expensive. I planted some last year but it only half kinda took.

It's a mix of white and pink, mostly white though. I also planted some creeping thyme and I keep a lot unmowed with some wildflowers. I have a decent sized lawn (little over 1/2 acre), but a good chunk of it is taken up by a septic system.

Re: Lawn mowing frequency affects bee abundance and diversity (2018)

#83

Post by lazide » Sun, Mar 13, 2022, 5:33 PM UTC

agilob wrote: post #75

lazide wrote: post #31

It also increases angry letters from the HOA by 200%

When these topics are mentioned I remember once how police wanted to give my parents' neighbour a ticket for trash on her property, it was fly tipping. Turned out my parents personally knew the police officer and after being asked "so if I break a glass bottle in your garden, you will give yourself a ticket?". The guy let them go without a ticket... so when this US HOA thing is mentioned in extreme scenarios like som…

A LOT of the HOA president types are retired and stay at home a lot, and watch things like a hawk.

I would expect a decent number of them to consider throwing ‘invasive’ seeds onto their lawns some kind of terrorist act. And almost all of them would comb over every legal resource they could find to try to nail you with something over it.

This is definitely a case where you’d be better off just avoiding it entirely.

Re: Lawn mowing frequency affects bee abundance and diversity (2018)

#84

Post by LeifCarrotson » Sun, Mar 13, 2022, 5:34 PM UTC

odonnellryan wrote: post #70

candiddevmike wrote: post #24

Also stop using herbicide and plant some clover. My neighbors hate me but I (and the bees, bunnies, and other critters) love my almost white lawn in July. It smells great, and the clover keeps the grass healthy.

What clover? Would love to do this even though clover is really expensive. I planted some last year but it only half kinda took.

One good thing about clover is it can propagate naturally! If you had some native clover half kinda take last year, it should be verdant this year.

Re: Lawn mowing frequency affects bee abundance and diversity (2018)

#85

Post by giantg2 » Sun, Mar 13, 2022, 5:38 PM UTC

"Mowing less frequently [than 3 weeks] is practical,"

Not in all areas. Some grasses grow much more quickly, especially in warmer areas. Many areas require a lower mow to inhibit mosquito reproduction. Every 2 weeks tends to work well for my lawn.

Re: Lawn mowing frequency affects bee abundance and diversity (2018)

#86

Post by ozarkerD » Sun, Mar 13, 2022, 5:39 PM UTC

giantg2 wrote: post #85

"Mowing less frequently [than 3 weeks] is practical," Not in all areas. Some grasses grow much more quickly, especially in warmer areas. Many areas require a lower mow to inhibit mosquito reproduction. Every 2 weeks tends to work well for my lawn.

I’m curious if this is due more to climate or species of grass in an area.

Re: Lawn mowing frequency affects bee abundance and diversity (2018)

#87

Post by rcpt » Sun, Mar 13, 2022, 5:39 PM UTC

amanaplanacanal wrote: post #46

lazide wrote: post #31

It also increases angry letters from the HOA by 200%

I’ve tried to imagine buying a house with an attached HOA. I already have three layers of government, what does adding a fourth layer get me beside more busybodies telling me what (not) to do?

Seems like existence of an HOA should decrease property values.

Re: Lawn mowing frequency affects bee abundance and diversity (2018)

#88

Post by softfalcon » Sun, Mar 13, 2022, 5:40 PM UTC

happytoexplain wrote: post #13

Maybe I have slow growing grass. I mow every three weeks, and I feel like my neighbors do it every two. I thought weekly mowing was something mostly only seen in fictional portrayals of American fathers.

Yeah, weirdly, here in the Canadian “frozen tundra” West of Alberta, there’s about 2-3 months where my grass goes into overdrive and I have to mow it once a week.

Seriously considering landscaping to not need to do this. Wife and I have thought to turn the whole front and back yard into other greenery.

Re: Lawn mowing frequency affects bee abundance and diversity (2018)

#89

Post by emj » Sun, Mar 13, 2022, 5:40 PM UTC

Phenomenit wrote: post #48

Only reason I mow is because it reduces the chance of the neighbors cat shitting in my yard. Otherwise I would have a beautiful Meadow.

Camera that can identify cats and a sprinkler.

Re: Lawn mowing frequency affects bee abundance and diversity (2018)

#90

Post by agilob » Sun, Mar 13, 2022, 5:42 PM UTC

lazide wrote: post #83

agilob wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When these topics are mentioned I remember once how police wanted to give my parents' neighbour a ticket for trash on her property, it was fly tipping. Turned out my parents personally knew the police officer and after being asked "so if I break a glass bottle in your garden, you will give yourself a ticket?". The guy let them go without a ticket... so when this US HOA thing is mentioned in extreme scenarios like som…

A LOT of the HOA president types are retired and stay at home a lot, and watch things like a hawk. I would expect a decent number of them to consider throwing ‘invasive’ seeds onto their lawns some kind of terrorist act. And almost all of them would comb over every legal resource they could find to try to nail you with something over it. This is definitely a case where you’d be better off just avoiding it entirely.

>A LOT of the HOA president types are retired and stay at home a lot, and watch things like a hawk.

Well, I'm just passing by, and whoops I need to tie shoelances, and here I drop some super tiny seeds for the bugs, birds and wind to do the rest. Planting them is super easy.